Printer&#39;s blanket.



No. 680,577. Patented Aug. l3, l90l. A. C. FERGUSON.

PRINTEBS BLANKET.

(Application filed Jan. 10, 1900.)

(No Model.)

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NATENT ARTHUR O. FERGUSON, OF BROOKLYN, NEYV YORK.

PRINTERS BLANKET.

fiPECIFICATIGN formingpart of Letters Patent N 0. 680,577, dated August 13, 1901.

' Application filed January 10, 1900. Serial No. 994. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR C. FERGUSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Printers Blankets; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. Y

This invention relates to beds or blankets for the platens of printing-presses; and it consists, substantially, in such features of improvements as hereinafter more particularly pointed out.

The invention has for its object to provide means for producing impressions from type and stereotype forms without the necessity of resorting to the ordinary make-ready process by which to overcome inequalities in the surface of the bed or form. It has been proposed in many instances heretofore to over.- come these objections in various Ways; but I propose by the present invention to do so much more successfully than has hitherto been accomplished in many instances.

In carrying my invention into effect I pros vide one or more sheets or strips of wiregauze of very fine mesh, one overlapping the other, and above the uppermost one I place a sheet or strip of very fine material having suitable resiliency-such,for instance, as fine steel or gutta-percha. This body I arrange beneath the ordinary blanket employed upon the platen of a bed of a flat or cylinder press,

' and while this body is capable'of conforming to the general shape of 'the platen or cylinder it also possesses sufficient elasticity and resiliency to meet or overcome any of the inequalities of the surface of an ordinary printing-bed. It is well known that inequalities of printing are alone produced by the inequalities of the printing-surface, and this I propose to overcome in the safest and most expeditious manner. At the same time I have not lost sight of the fact of the desirability of cheapness and ease of manipulation with which such devices should be handled, and it will be found from the description hereinafter following that my inventionpos sesses all of the qualities which goto make up durability, effectiveness, and other desidgutta-percha or steel may be laid thereon in a any suitable manner. In order to secure the parts together, I preferably stitch them at the edge in such manner that the stitching will lie flush or below the surface of the device.

In some cases I may only stitch the blanket 1 at the edges, or in other cases I may stitch the same at the edges and through intermediate portions of the body thereof. These parts of my invention, however, it will be understood, are immaterial, since the same may be united in any suitable Way.

I will now refer to my invention in detail in order that a more perfect description may i be had thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is an enlarged view of a portion of my improved blanket, the same showing but a single sheet of wire-gauze together with a covering or'sheet of thin steel or gutta-percha, the said View also showing the tympan of the platen broken away. Fig. 2 is a similar View showing two sheets of wire-gauze, one overlaid upon the other, with the addition of the thin sheet of steel or gutta-percha. Figs. 3 and 4 are sectional views in detail of the preceding figures, respectively. Fig. 5 is a view in detail showing the mauner of stitching the edges of the Wire-gauze and the thin steel or gutta-percha. Fig. 6 is a view showing my device as applied to an ordinary cylinderpress, the ordinary tympan in this instance being also shown.

While my invention is capable of comparatively short reference or description, the uses to which it may be put are almost unsurpassed in the printing trade or art, and I will simplyrefer to the same in as detailed a manner as is necessary to a full and complete understanding of the same by the public.

A represents a sheet of wire-gauze, which, as shown in Fig. 1, is overlapped by a thin sheet of steel or gutta-percha or other material B, having suitable resiliency, which in turn is covered by the ordinary tympan D.

As is well known in the art of printing, the slightest protrusion of a type from the printing bed or surface will produce most undesirable effects on the paper or other sheet printed upon, whereas by having a suitable elastic and resilient blanket, as herein shown, beneath the ordinary printers tympan such irregularities are overcome. The purpose has been heretofore to obtain a surface which would compensate for the slightest irregularity of the printing-surface and which with but one or two exceptions has been unable to be accomplished. By the use of my device all such irregularities are overcome, and no matter how minute the imperfection of surface may be when the platen is brought against the printing-face the whole surface of the latter will be flatten ed out, and perfect results thereby secured.

In Fig. 2 I have shown the preferred form of my device, and wherein A A each represent a sheet of wire-gauze or like material, one being laid upon the other and the surface of the uppermost one being overlaid by a thin sheet of steel or gutta-percha B, which in turn is covered by the ordinary tympan D. The wires of the gauze or reticulated member comprise elongated rectilinear horizontallyseparated elements which when superposed contact with each other at only such points as are unsupported by elements below, and consequently resiliently yield under pressure. In this construction and arrangement it will be seen that the longitudinal and transversewires of one gauze sheet are made to cross the intermediate spaces of the other sheet and from which I obtain the very best results, due to the fact that every bit of available surface of the device is rendered effective to the ends desired. Inasmuch as the gauze sheets are finely woven it is much easier to efiect the desired crossing of the sheets by arranging the wires of one sheet at an angle to the other, as shown in Fig. 2. g

In Fig. 5 I have shown how the gauze sheet or sheets A and the gutta-percha sheet Bare secured together at the edges in any suitable way, as by stitching, (indicated at H.) Inorder that the said stitches shall not protrude above the surface of said sheet B, the latter is grooved, as shown at H, the stitches lying in the bottom of said groove.

In Fig. 6 I have shown my device as applied to a cylinder J of an ordinary cylinderpress, and which will be understood without further reference.

From the foregoing it will be seen that my invention in all of its arrangements comprehends the same general feature or element of improvement-that is to say, one havingsuit- 1 sheets of wire-gauze laid one upon the other,-

able elastic and resilient body throughout with no intermediate inelastic portions, and one in which the platen is at all times met by an elastic surface, which straightens out or puts into place any inequalities of surface thereof produced by the protrusion of type or other causes. It will be seen that my invention also comprehends the features of simplicity, combined with durability, ease of application, as well as cheapness, ease of repair, and ready accessibility. It will further be seen that uniform impressions can be made from type or stereotype forms without the previous preparation of the makeready process so f requently necessary in the ordinary printing operations.

The materials comprising my device are easily obtainable, thereby making a saving in expense, and while I have specified wiregauze and sheet-steel or gutta-percha as the elements employed it, is evident that any equivalent thereto is intended to be included within my invention. I do not wish to be understood, furthermore, as confining myself to the manner of joinder of the several parts, since I may find it convenient to cement the sheets together or else rivet them or in some other manner join them in an equivalent way to that herein shown and described.

Therefore, without limiting myself to the precise details of construction herein shown and described, I claim 1. A bed or surface for the platens of print ing-presses, the same comprising two or more sheets of wire-gauze laid one upon the other, with the wires of one sheet crossing the intermediate spaces of the other sheet, and an outer sheet of elastic material, substantially as described.

2. A bed or surface for the platens of printing-presses, the same comprising two or more sheets of wire-gauze laid one upon the other, with the wires of one sheet disposed at an angle to those of the other sheet, and an outer sheet of elastic material, substantially as described.

3. A bed or surface for the platens of printing-presses, the same comprising two or more with the wires of one sheet disposed at an angle to those of the other, an outer sheet of elastic material, and means for fastening all of said sheets together, substantially as described.

4:. A bed or surface for the platens of printing-presses, the same comprising two or more sheets of wire-gauze laid one upon the other, with the wires of one sheet disposed at an angle to those of the other, an outer sheet of elastic material grooved in its upper surface at the edges, and fastening devices lying in said grooves for securing all of said sheets together, substantially as described.

5. A bed or surface for the platens of print ing-presses, the same comprising two or more sheets of wire-gauze laid one upon the other,

with the wires of one sheet disposed at an angle to those of the other, an outer sheet of elastic material grooved in its upper surface at the edges, and stitching passing through the bottom of the grooves for securing all of 8. An impression member constituted by a plurality of sets of reticulated wires adapted by their superposition to resiliently yield under pressure, and a bridging-plate thereon.

9. A make-ready comprising an elastic mem- 25 ber and a member formed of wires arranged in a plurality of plies one of which plies is located to bring its wires between the vertical planes occupied by the wires of another ply.

10. A make-ready comprising an elastic member and a member formed of wires arranged in a plurality of plies one of which plies intersects the spaces between the wires of the other ply.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ARTHUR O. FERGUSON.

Witnesses:

E. EVERETT ELLIS, JOHN N. BiROKHEAD. 

